The Beth Hillel Torah Study group, which meets on Saturday mornings on the 1st and 3rd Shabbat of the month, has been delving into a chapter from this week’s Torah portion for several weeks. The Torah Study group started with the first verse of Genesis in 2017 and has been reading the Torah, line by line, with commentary and lively discussion ever since. As of this week, we have reached Exodus 33, which falls in this week’s parasha, Ki Tissa. Chapter 32 of Exodus, which the group recently spent so much time discussing, is the story of the “golden calf” that the Israelites built at the foot of Mt. Sinai while becoming impatient that Moses was up on the mountain so long.
Included in that narrative is the moment when Moses breaks the tablets. Commentators and sages disagree about whether he did this out of anger? fear? compassion? weakness? The “compassion” explanation is as follows: That Moses broke the tablets so that the people would never have been subject to the commandment against idol-worship and therefore and could not be held responsible for it. (Exodus Rabbah 43:1) Nonetheless, the people were severely punished for their idolatry.
Are you fascinated by Torah and its sometimes challenging and other times inspiring messages? Join us this Saturday at 9:15am, in-person in the first floor classroom, or on Zoom.
-Rabbi Dena A. Feingold